I recently responded to an invitation from a young married couple for me to provide an appraisal of their three bedroom semi in Galmington. The time had come for them to kick start their ambition to buy a larger, detached, house to serve all their future needs.

‘This will be our last move’, advised my 30 something year old host, adding, ‘We’ll never need to move again after this’. WHAT?!? I asked myself. How on earth could people at this relatively early stage of their lives possibly be so sure they’d never need to move again?

This meeting was in stark contrast to another which took place a couple of years ago with an elderly but very sprightly couple who, following careful research, had decided upon a move from Taunton to Torquay, where they could dance the nights away at a thriving ballroom they had discovered in the vicinity.

I was advised the gentleman was about to celebrate his 88th birthday and that his wife was just a couple years behind. ‘We’re sure we’re doing the right thing’, my foxtrotting friend assured me, ‘We’ll give it a year or two and if it’s not right, we’ll move on from there’!

On a similar theme, not long ago I conducted a search on behalf of another positively minded, go-get, octogenarian. Just a year short of his 90th birthday, he had decided to downsize from his country retreat with 18 acres of land, to a bungalow nearer town – but he wouldn’t consider anywhere with less than an acre of land! How brave is that! 

So just how inclined are we to settle down in one place? Studying recent research, a picture of comparative moving trends can be drawn. In the 1980s, with a booming market, we moved house every eight years. These days, in the face of so much economic uncertainty, it’s around fifteen years but with the types I encounter on my travels, you never can tell!

Chris Willey is an Independent Property Appraiser and welcomes sale related enquiries on Taunton 01823 412661